Durandal

Named after a mythical medieval French sword, the Durandal is an anti-runway penetration bomb developed by the French company Matra (now MBDA), designed to destroy airport runways and exported to several countries. A simple crater in a runway could be just filled in, so the Durandal uses two explosions to displace the concrete slabs of a runway, thus making the runway much more difficult to repair. Overview Designed to be dropped from low altitudes, the bomb's fall is slowed by a parachute. The maximum release speed is and the minimum release altitude is . When the bomb has reached a 40° angle due to the parachute's drag, it fires a rocket booster that accelerates it into the runway surface. The primary charge explodes after the weapon has penetrated the concrete and drives the secondary charge even deeper. The secondary charge then explodes after a one-second delay. Later production weapons have a programmable fuse that can delay the secondary detonation up to several hours. The weapon can penetrate up to of concrete, and creates a crater deep and approximately in diameter. In addition, concrete slabs around the crater are disturbed in an area approximately in diameter. The disturbed slabs are displaced up to above the original surface, making repair more difficult than the simple crater from a conventional bomb.